Welcome to another packed edition of our newsletter, with enrichment news dominating. This edition is being published slightly later than we intended – for which we blame the recent heat! We also wanted to delay publication to include coverage of Andy Burnham’s major speech at the very end of June.
The big political news in June was the resignation of the Prime Minister and the likely coronation of his successor, Andy Burnham MP, following Burnham’s definitive victory in the Makerfield byelection on 18 June. Burnham has now delivered his first major speech since his re-election as an MP and his vision for the country. We report on that speech below, and in a future edition we will look further at his track record on our sector.
Burnham was Secretary of State for Culture for a year and a half (2008-2009), so his parliamentary career has spanned the cultural sector. As Mayor of Greater Manchester he has championed reform of technical education and also greater education control for mayoral authorities, particularly centred around vocational qualifications. With major education reforms underway it will be interesting to see whether these remain firmly on track or whether there will be any shifts in direction.
Our Latest News digest this month features education sector news:
- Burnham speech renews focus on devolution, opportunity and children’s futures
- Publication of Enrichment Benchmarks, a companion Toolkit and news of five Enrichment Ambassadors
- Package of enrichment provision for children and young people is branded ‘Every Child Can’
- Milburn interim report on young people and work
- Independent Inquiry into white working class educational outcomes
- A report on school absence and life satisfaction from the National Foundation for Education Research
- Social media ban and phones in schools
- The National Audit Office reports falling school numbers
- University launches scheme offering hundreds of free learning opportunities to underrepresented potential learners or those not in employment, education or training
- New report finds that nearly 90% of young people say creative opportunities are dwindling
We also have cultural sector news:
- Arts Council England replaces its Let’s Create strategy
- The Department of Culture, Media and Sport updates its areas of research interest
In Latest Thinking this month, Emma Thurston, Headteacher of Deptford Green School in South East London, shares her commitment and approach to ensuring that the Arts are central to her School’s values and ethos. Her secondary school serves a richly diverse community, and under Emma’s leadership the Arts have played a vital role in shaping Deptford Green into a thriving, successful school.
We are also pleased to publish a CLA Education Reform Timeline, so we can all keep up to date with the many upcoming changes across curriculum, assessment (at all stages) performance measures, technical qualifications and post-16, SEND, inspection, and the National Centre for Arts Education. We will keep updating this as further details emerge.
In her Research Spotlight article this month, Professor Pat Thomson this month examines a piece of research from the Faculty of Education at Cambridge University which tracks creative subject choices for more than 1.7 million students in England from age 16 through further and higher education and into employment. The researchers show that around half of young people express a preference for creative subjects at age 14, but only one in twenty-five ends up working in a creative occupation by their early thirties. It also reveals that economic disadvantage is the most consistent barrier.
We’re planning a webinar on our 2026 Report Card and on our Rapid Evidence Reviews for Arts subjects, so will share details soon. And we’re also looking for case studies of how colleagues are using our Arts Education Capabilities Framework – do get in touch if you are happy to share how you are integrating the Framework into your provision.
Education sector news
Burnham speech renews focus on devolution, opportunity and children’s futures
Andy Burnham used a major speech at the People’s History Museum in Manchester on 29 June to set out a vision for national renewal rooted in devolution, good growth and a significant shift of power away from Whitehall.
Speaking in Manchester, Burnham described his proposals as consistent with Labour’s 2024 manifesto and said he would create a more streamlined state with a clearer purpose: to power up all parts of the country and focus on growth and regeneration. A proposed “No 10 North” would be based in Manchester, but with a remit to make power flow across the country, including into the Midlands, the South West, the East of England and London.
For those working in Arts education and cultural learning, the speech is significant because of its emphasis on opportunity, place and the future of education. Burnham called for a complete rethink of how the country supports the next generation to succeed, including changes to schools and stronger parity between technical education and the university route.
This matters for the Cultural Learning Alliance because Labour’s 2024 manifesto included clear commitments to broaden access to Arts, music and culture. It stated that “the arts and music will no longer be the preserve of a privileged few” and described culture as “an essential part of supporting children and young people to develop creativity and find their voice”. The manifesto also committed to supporting children to study a creative or vocational subject until the age of 16, ensuring accountability measures reflect this, and launching a National Music Education Network for parents, teachers and children.
CLA COMMENT
Taken together, the speech and the manifesto commitments point to an important opportunity. If power, funding and decision making are to move closer to communities, Arts education and cultural learning must be part of that settlement. Local and regional plans for growth, skills, employment, regeneration and public service reform should recognise the role of Arts and culture in children’s lives, learning and future opportunities.
CLA will continue to make the case that opportunity in every postcode must include access to high-quality Arts education and cultural learning. A serious programme of national renewal should support children and young people to learn, connect and create in the places they call home.
Enrichment Benchmarks published
Enrichment Benchmarks
The Enrichment Benchmarks which were first announced in March 2025 were finally published on 13 June. The government guidance from the DfE sets out the eight benchmarks for enrichment to provide a clear structure against which schools and colleges can effectively evaluate their existing provision and make appropriate and considered improvements to their offer.
In summary, the eight Benchmarks are:
- A strategically aligned enrichment offer
- A broad and well-rounded enrichment offer
- A well-communicated enrichment offer that celebrates participation and achievement
- An enrichment offer shaped by the school or college community
- An accessible and engaging enrichment offer
- An enrichment offer that works in partnership
- An outcomes-focused enrichment offer
- A continually improving enrichment offer
Each benchmark is presented with a short description followed by a set of indicators, and then a number of case studies. For example, for benchmark No.2, a broad and well-rounded enrichment offer, we are told: “Pupils and students have multiple and varied opportunities to engage in enrichment activities that are purposeful, fun and can support a thriving childhood and successful transition to adulthood. This could include through supporting wellbeing and social skills.”
Then the indicator sets out the five categories of enrichment that every pupil or student must have access to, and also states that “delivery must take place regularly across the year whilst recognising that there will be a range of timings, durations and access points. This includes at least some provision within the school and college day, such as within lunchtime clubs or timetabled lesson time.”
The five categories (as we’ve known since November last year) are civic engagement; Arts and culture; nature, outdoors and adventure; sport and physical activities; and developing wider life and future skills. There are now more detailed examples given for each, so the Arts category is described as: “for example, taking part in and having live experience of music, art, dance, theatre, other expressive arts, visits to museums and galleries”.
The five enrichment categories themselves have not changed, but they have been structured as the specific breadth of activities schools should offer, and now feature alongside practical delivery and accountability benchmarks. We are told that activities could include music groups, engineering clubs, debating societies, football clubs etc.
And finally, case studies are presented. For example, for benchmark 2, case studies include:
- Surrey Square Primary, Southwark, London: Broadening horizons through a trips and experiences passport, and after-school clubs.
- The Folkestone Secondary School for Girls, Kent: Providing a breadth of activity that shape who pupils are today and who they will become; Arts and culture are represented through school theatre productions, National Theatre opportunities, student-led radio broadcasting, music recording and choreographing dance pieces.
- The Limes College, Alternative Provision, Sutton, London: Creating real-world learning through outdoor and community enrichment.
For each benchmark there are between four and seven case studies presented. Cultural organisations mentioned by name are the Lowry Theatre, the National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company and three in Nottingham: the Theatre Royal Nottingham; the Royal Concert Hall Nottingham; and Nottingham Playhouse. Surprisingly there is no museum or art gallery mentioned by name. The most mentions go to the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and the National Trust.
Ofsted will consider a school’s enrichment offer as part of how it assesses personal development, and parents will be able to see their local school’s offer through new school profiles – a one stop shop with key information on a school’s offering.
The benchmarks have been designed to complement the government’s wider reforms to modernise the national curriculum; break down barriers to opportunity; and better prepare young people for life and work – now and in the future.
Enrichment Benchmarks Companion Toolkit
The Enrichment for All Coalition has published an Enrichment Benchmarks Companion Toolkit to support the sector in delivering high-quality enrichment opportunities. Designed for anyone who is shaping or delivering enrichment, it includes practical guidance, case studies and examples of effective partnership working, as well as approaches to understanding impact.
One of the Toolkit’s strongest messages is that schools and colleges cannot do this work alone, and that the richest opportunities emerge when education settings work in partnership with other groups and organisations, which sends a strong signal to cultural institutions.
The Toolkit also places young people’s voices at the centre, recognising that “the best enrichment opportunities are shaped with young people, not simply for them.” The other important message is that “At its heart this Toolkit is about ensuring that enrichment becomes an entitlement rather than an opportunity available only to some.”
We are told that the Department for Education will work closely with schools, colleges and sector partners, including the Enrichment for All Coalition, to support implementation of the framework and understand its impact on children and young people. “This will help build a shared approach to ensuring high-quality enrichment opportunities can support attendance, engagement, wellbeing and achievement for all pupils.”
Enrichment Ambassadors announced
The DfE has announced the appointment of five Enrichment Ambassadors to support each of the five enrichment areas embedded in the Enrichment Framework and the new Enrichment Benchmarks. The posts are being taken up on a voluntary basis with the roles including “identifying and celebrating good practice inside and outside of schools and helping to shape and grow opportunities”. We are told that ambassadors will use their influence and expertise to inspire participation, raise awareness and help drive support for enriching opportunities for young people.
A Schools Week news piece provided some background information on the five ambassadors – the group includes a cultural leader, a MAT founder, a sports sector leader, an Olympian and a promoter of STEM. Two sit in the House of Lords and one (for civic engagement) is also a religious leader.
- Life and future Skills: Anne Marie Imafidon
Imafidon is a computer scientist, mathematician and social entrepreneur, who also serves as the women in tech envoy on the women in tech taskforce. She also founded Stemettes, a social enterprise which encourages young girls to pursue STEM careers. - Nature, Outdoor and Adventure: Tanni Grey-Thompson
An 11-time Paralympic champion in wheelchair racing, Baroness Grey-Thompson is also a broadcaster and Chair of Trustees for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. - Arts and Culture: Marcus Davey CBE
Davey is former CEO and artistic director at the Roundhouse, a trustee of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and co-chair of the Young Creatives Commission. He was also on the Advisory Board of the Cultural Learning Alliance. - Sports and physical activities: Sue Campbell
Baroness Campbell is chair of England Netball and a former chair of UK sport where she was involved in delivering medals at the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. She was previously director of women’s football at the FA and will advise the government on PE and sport more widely. - Civic engagement: Steve Chalke
Chalke set up Oasis Community Learning, an Academy trust that now runs 56 schools in 2004. A church leader, he also founded Oasis Charitable Trust as well as the People’s Parliament, which aims to establish a stronger voice for third-sector organisations in public life.
In response to the announcement, Marcus Davey told CLA: “I am delighted to be championing the Arts and culture enrichment category. My aim is to ensure the Arts feature prominently alongside the other four areas, and also to see a wide range of Arts enrichment: from different types of music, drama and performance to a wide variety of dance, art and design. It would be good to see engaging Arts enrichment characterised by diversity, shaped by schools alongside non-formal providers, and focused on outcomes for children and young people. The partnership with cultural organisations, both large and small, will be key to making this work. I really look forward to seeing some brilliant case studies emerge from all over the country.”
CLA COMMENT
The Benchmarks and indicators are all very positive and the case studies drawn from across England are helpful. All in all, this is a positive development. It is good now to see all the new enrichment provision components in the round more than a year since they were first announced.
However, last month we reported on concerns from school leaders that the squeezed timeline to introduce the Enrichment Benchmarks will leave schools with less than a term to prepare to deliver on this new core enrichment entitlement before Ofsted inspects enrichment from September.
As we stated in our Latest News last month, more than a third of secondary students currently say they do not participate in any enrichment activities in school, and a similar proportion say they do not participate in any activities outside school, according to government data.
Only 17% describe having participated in performing Arts extracurricular activities in school, and only 12% in creative Arts. The figure is much higher for sport. We know from our own Report Cards that access to these opportunities remains unequal, with too many children locked out because of where they live and their family’s socioeconomic circumstances.
The government’s enrichment ambitions are widely welcomed, but there is little time and funding support to implement the reforms. £22.5 million will be invested over three years for 400 schools in the most deprived areas of the country to meet the entitlement.
In the more detailed descriptions of each of the five enrichment areas, it’s really good to see reference to the “expressive Arts” (see above) – a descriptor for the Arts subject area in schools that we have long endorsed. (Although we note that the list of art forms is not alphabetical but starts with music, which suggests a subtle hierarchy we are trying to avoid.)
It’s good to see cultural organisations named in the case studies. As the list above shows, the named partners are all national or city-based organisations. There are no smaller grassroots organisations, and no galleries or museums identified by name. We know it is hard for these early case studies to be fully representative of every subject area, but the absence of any gallery or museum does seem an omission, and we would want to see grassroots provision recognised as the benchmarks develop.
There is a danger, too, in treating scale as a proxy for quality. The cultural sector is a networked ecology, and excellent, well-evidenced provision can be found at every level of it, from national institutions to regional organisations, grassroots groups and freelance teaching artists, just as poor practice can be found at any scale. Schools will be best served by case studies and brokerage that help them recognise quality wherever it sits.
CLA’s concern will always be around parity. There are five enrichment areas, and we will want to see Arts and culture feature prominently alongside the other four as new school enrichment programmes are developed – and also to see breadth across the performing Arts and visual/material Arts and culture. Will Ofsted be seeking the same evidence of parity? What does “broad and well-rounded” (the second benchmark) actually mean and how will it be judged?
The first benchmark is a strategically aligned enrichment offer, aligning with a school’s broader priorities, which are described as: attainment; attendance; behaviour; careers guidance; curriculum; personal development; and wellbeing. Our Arts Education Capabilities Framework makes clear the importance of Arts experiences for children and young people for their personal development and wellbeing.
The list of five appointed Ambassadors is interesting. We are delighted to see Marcus Davey on the list for the Arts and culture – Marcus was on the CLA Advisory Board and has spent his career championing the value of the Arts and culture for young people at the Roundhouse.
It’s a diverse list – three women, a disabled former athlete, and the youngest, who is Black, is 35 – but no one individual can be representative of all the aspects of each curriculum area so they will each need to draw on wider expertise in identifying good practice and helping to shape opportunities. It’s interesting to see a STEM expert on the list, given that it’s a core curriculum area (although STEM is explicitly referenced under the ‘life and future skills’ enrichment area).
The message from the Enrichment for All Coalition about partnerships (above) is really important; we look forward to seeing the ways in which the cultural sector can work in support of the school Enrichment Benchmarks for Arts and culture.
‘Every Child Can’ enrichment programme launched
The Enrichment Benchmarks announcement came alongside a wider announcement – or, strictly speaking, a repackaging – of the £132m allocation (from dormant assets) which we reported on a year ago, to fund more access for young people to art, sport, music, dance and drama, so that a funding package could be aligned to the government’s enrichment ambition.
The funding is being aligned to the standardised Enrichment Framework to ensure all young people have access to high-quality extracurricular and enrichment activities
The announcement was accompanied by statements from Bridget Phillipson and Lisa Nandy, Secretaries of State for Education and Culture, Media and Sport respectively. We are told that “This package forms part of the government’s commitment to restore lost childhood freedoms – investing in playgrounds, in music hubs, sports partnerships, youth services and youth spaces and support for families through measures including VAT relief on children’s activities this summer.”
This sum, as we have long known, is being allocated through The National Lottery Community Fund (TNLCF). When it was first announced in June 2025 we were told that the fund would be led by TNLCF, and would be named in due course. On 13 June we were told it is to be under the umbrella of ‘Every Child Can’. Lisa Nandy, Secretary of State for Culture, first referenced this umbrella name at the Labour Conference last autumn, since when it has not been used again, so it’s good to have the spending programme name confirmed now.
The government is working with The National Lottery Community Fund to develop Every Child Can. We are told that further details on the remaining funding, how each programme will work and how to apply to take part will be published in due course.
The £132.5 million ‘Every Child Can’ programme will fund activities within school and in communities at weekends and in the holidays, “ensuring enrichment is a common entitlement for all — not just those who can afford to pay.” Greater access to opportunities in sport, creative activities, nature and the Arts will be made available to children both in and out of school in order to halve the participation gap.
The drive to make sure all children are supported to develop new skills and explore their talents includes the new Enrichment Benchmarks (detailed above).
The new programme responds to a State of the Nation survey of more than 14,000 young people, which found that despite being the most digitally connected generation, young people today face some of the highest levels of isolation globally, and want safe spaces, trusted adults, better mental health support and greater access to enriching activities.
The Department for Education will work closely with schools, colleges and sector partners, including the Enrichment for All Coalition, to support implementation of the framework and understand its impact on children and young people. This will help build a shared approach to ensuring high-quality enrichment opportunities can support attendance, engagement, wellbeing and achievement for all pupils.
CLA COMMENT
The challenge with the Fund is the challenge with a lot of the government’s reform intentions: how to balance an enrichment entitlement for all with specifically targeting disadvantage. This will be the juggling act over the coming years. The ambition is impressive; it’s the implementation that will be challenging, as we can already anticipate with the challenges with the Enrichment Benchmarks set out above.
CLA will continue to monitor the dormant assets funding allocation. £132m, of which a chunk has already been allocated. It may not go far in delivering on the entitlement ambition, but it could well make a difference to targeted groups in specific areas of disadvantage, and the National Lottery Community Fund is thinking hard about best to do this.
Alongside this funding, DCMS is providing £16.8m of grant funding to a delivery partner/consortium to improve and enhance enrichment provision and support secondary schools to improve their offer. The tender details were announced in May with a very tight turnaround to find a delivery partner who will work across the nine English regions and whose approach can be flexed to ensure its offer of support to schools includes the 400 target schools that DCMS will be funding to provide an enhanced enrichment offer.
DCMS wants the activity it funds through this grant to deliver measurable outcomes against the benchmarks set out in the Enrichment Framework, during 2026/27 to 2028/29. DCMS will cover administration costs between 2 to 6% of the total funding awarded. The £16.8m grant award is exclusive of administration costs.
An assessment panel, appointed by DCMS, is reviewing bids for the delivery partner and we wait to hear where the 400 target schools will be. Our Report Cards already highlight the Arts entitlement gap in the north of England and the West Midlands.
Apparently schools will be “onboarded” and the delivery partner/s mobilised, in July, so that’s a very tight turnaround, with mobilisation of all 400 schools in January 2027, with some beginning earlier. The interim evaluation report will be in autumn 2028 and the final in spring 2029.
This is a lot of delivery at pace, and we look forward to reporting further. What is good news is the focus on enrichment – although we maintain our position that the Arts must also always be embedded in the curriculum, and afforded parity alongside other subject areas, and we won’t be seeing the new curriculum for some time yet.
Milburn interim report on young people and work
The Young People and Work report is an independent review of the increase in the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). The Rt Hon Alan Milburn, former Chair of the Social Mobility Commission and Secretary of State for Health was commissioned by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to author the report. The interim report can be found here.
The Guardian covered the publication of the interim findings in an article with the headline “The former minister paints damning picture of structural issues affecting 1 million young people in the UK”.
The report states that the situation is “a moral crisis”, revealing that nearly one million young people aged 16 to 24 in the United Kingdom are not in education, employment or training. That’s one in 8 young people, and rising. Milburn describes the UK as being at risk of a lost generation. “As an ageing population becomes increasingly reliant on the next generation to sustain it, every young person has to have more opportunities to learn or earn.”
Milburn states that the Review exists because “Britain faces a generational fault line … It is no longer simply a question of temporary youth unemployment. Today the deeper problem is youth detachment from the labour market. Nearly 60% of young people who are NEET now are economically inactive. They are not just out of work. They are not looking for work.
He goes on to say that “Numbers on that scale should command national attention in their own right. Too often they haven’t. The NEET rate has barely crept below 10% in 25 years. What should have been treated as an urgent national crisis has been absorbed into the background noise of public life. That tolerance is no longer acceptable.”
The interim report reveals that 6 in 10 young people who are NEET today have never had a job, up from 4 in 10 in 2005. The interim report highlights the following in its sub-headings:
- This is a very significant and increasing problem
- It is very connected to inequality
- Health issues, including mental health, play a huge role
- The social security system does not help
- The labour market is difficult
- There are many structural issues
- This is not about laziness, or a generation unsuited to work
Chapter 4 covers the education and skills sectors: “Education remains a critical protective factor against young people becoming NEET. The higher the qualification the lower the likelihood of a young person becoming detached from the labour market. But there is evidence that education attainment is not as protective as it once was. And the way young people are taught and made familiar with the world of work is not keeping pace with a fast-changing labour market.”
“The education system knows who will struggle. It knows at age 5. It knows again at age 11 and then at age 16 too. It has the data, the evidence and the research … What it does not have is the architecture, the funding or the accountability to act on what it knows. Schools are measured by exam results, not by whether young people end up in work. Colleges are funded for enrolment, not for sustained destinations. Careers guidance is a statutory duty without enforcement, and work experience is haphazard.”
Milburn finds that “The skills system beyond school tells the same story. Critically the number of young people participating in post-18 education is falling. This is particularly true for those on the vocational path where opportunities have been shrinking. Further education has been hollowed out by a decade of real-terms cuts. Apprenticeships have drifted away from the young people who need them most … Quality is uneven and dropout rates are too high.”
“The education and skills system does not fail by accident, but by design. It is designed to produce qualifications rather than working adults. Until that changes, until schools are held accountable for what happens to their pupils after they leave, until colleges are funded for outcomes not headcounts, until the post-16 cliff edge is bridged and the young people the system loses are the young people it works hardest to hold, the tail of failure will persist.”
There have been a number of responses to the interim report including from the Fair Education Alliance, which states that the interim report’s analysis “boils down to a simple truth: young people aren’t the problem, the institutions created to help them are.”
CLA COMMENT
The hard-hitting report pulls no punches, and is a reminder of how the education system needs to change, and just how challenging life is for many young people today. It highlights issues with the skills system, with apprenticeships, and the need for the education reforms currently underway. And it’s a salutary reminder that while we can sometimes become inured to grim statistics, behind them lie countless individual stories of young people whose lives are shaped by the broken systems around them.
Milburn describes a generation detached from the labour market, and agency is precisely what is at stake. The aggregated findings from our Rapid Evidence Reviews show that agency and personal development are the most significant benefits of Arts learning: the sense that young people have a voice, can make active choices, and are not simply done to. Our Arts Education Capabilities Framework sets out how Arts subjects build the agency, communication, collaboration and creativity that carry young people into adult life and work, which is the very progression this Review is concerned with. The final report is due in September.
Inquiry into white working class educational outcomes published
The Independent Inquiry into White Working Class Educational Outcomes published its final report this week. Commissioned by Star Academies and co-chaired by Sir Hamid Patel CBE and Baroness Estelle Morris, the year-long Inquiry concludes that the education system is not serving the interests of white working class children, and calls for a decade-long national effort to close what it terms the white working class disadvantage gap.
The Inquiry draws on new analysis of national data alongside large-scale polling, focus groups and immersive visits to white working class communities across England. It reports that only 36% of white British pupils on free school meals achieve a grade 4 or above in English and Maths GCSE, half the rate of pupils not eligible for free school meals, and that this gap opens early and widens across a school career.
Its five findings describe a system that is not set up to serve these children and families; a misalignment between communities and schools over the purpose of education; poorer family experiences of school; transitions, and especially the move to secondary school, as points where engagement declines; and outcomes shaped by wider economic and community conditions as well as by schools. The report is careful to move beyond a deficit account, foregrounding the pride, humour and strong sense of community within white working class communities, and arguing that the task is to build on the strengths already within them.
Of particular relevance to our sector, the Inquiry places enrichment, sport, Arts and culture at the heart of its vision, describing these experiences as central to helping children flourish. It finds that enrichment is highly valued by white working class families but is not consistently accessible through schools, and that many pupils struggle to see the relevance of the curriculum to their lives and futures. Among its recommendations is a properly funded enrichment entitlement, with schools serving these communities supported to offer far greater access to Arts, culture and wider opportunities. One pupil told the Inquiry’s researchers: “I’ve really enjoyed my art lessons … you’re just more engaged in what you’re doing.”
CLA COMMENT
This is a powerful and welcome report, and its findings sit close to the heart of the CLA’s work. The recognition that Arts, culture and enrichment are central to helping children flourish, and that access to them is shaped by purse and postcode, names the equity challenge our Report Cards have tracked for years. The Inquiry’s finding that enrichment is valued by white working class families but is not consistently available to their children is exactly the gap that a properly funded enrichment entitlement, with Arts and culture given genuine parity, needs to close.
We would add that Arts and cultural education is part of the answer the report is looking for. The agency, belonging, communication and wellbeing that the Inquiry describes as missing for too many young people are precisely the capabilities that Arts subjects build, as set out in our Arts Education Capabilities Framework and our Rapid Evidence Reviews. When a young person feels that education is not for them, a relevant, relational and Arts-rich experience is one of the surest ways to bring them back. We would add one concern, though. The report frames the Arts and culture almost wholly as enrichment, valued but inconsistently accessible, while its curriculum recommendations centre on the delivery and relevance of a knowledge-rich academic core.
The case for Arts subjects as a curriculum entitlement, with parity, status and protected time, is left largely unmade. Our forthcoming Blueprint for the renewal of Arts education sets out why curriculum and enrichment work best together, each strengthening the other, and why a secure curriculum foundation is what allows high-quality Arts enrichment to flourish. Read alongside the Milburn interim report above, the Inquiry is a reminder that quality Arts and cultural education belongs in every community, delivered well at every level of the ecology, in the places where children live, learn and create.
School attendance and life satisfaction: new report
A new report from National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) examines the link between school attendance and life satisfaction. The study aimed to understand the potential relationships between pupil wellbeing, sense of school belonging and school absences to help inform solutions for tackling the attendance crisis.
The study explored the relationships for 15-year-olds in England between:
- life satisfaction and school absence rates
- sense of school belonging and school absence rates
The report states that “the results offer insights into how life satisfaction and sense of school belonging relate to school attendance, but our analysis is associational rather than causal so we cannot determine if better life satisfaction or school belonging led to better attendance or vice-versa.” Key findings are:
- Pupil life satisfaction ratings were significantly related to school absence; this relationship was stronger among pupils with higher levels of school absence. However, improving life satisfaction alone is unlikely to solve the attendance crisis.
- Life satisfaction is a much stronger predictor of school absence for females than for males, suggesting that the drivers of school absence may be different for females and males.
- Sense of school belonging also predicts school absence, but this effect was not sustained after controlling for life satisfaction. This highlights that improving sense of school belonging is unlikely to fully solve the attendance challenges in schools.
A Schools Week article on the report highlighted the significant link between girls’ school absence and their sense of life satisfaction, and stated that the “report comes as absence remains more than 50 per cent above pre-pandemic levels, averaging 8.4 per cent in secondary schools last academic year compared to 5.5 per cent in 2018-19.”
Schools Week summarises the report’s recommendations to government as follows: “The report recommends the government expands its focus on school belonging to consider wider factors that influence pupils’ life satisfaction, such as timely access to wellbeing and mental health support. It also recommends expanding support for disadvantaged pupils and their families.”
It also suggests that government must ensure wider services such as family support and mental health services have sufficient staff capacity and funding to work alongside schools and support children, and that focuses on efforts to improve life satisfaction, with the aim of increasing school attendance, on females and pupils with the highest absence rates.
CLA COMMENT
This is a really interesting study to see at a time when school attendance levels are such a concern. One key take away is that pupils’ lives have to be seen in the round: that school absence and wellbeing, or life satisfaction, are closely linked even if improving life satisfaction is not the only answer to driving improved attendance. That life satisfaction is a stronger predictor of absence for females is also interesting in revealing that different drivers are also at play for males.
Our Arts Education Capabilities Framework is helpful in highlighting the ways that Arts subjects and experiences positively impact wellbeing, agency and belonging; it’s important that school leaders understand the evidenced impact of the Arts on pupil outcomes as they can play an important role in boosting pupil outcomes and sense of school belonging. This matters all the more given the report’s focus on life satisfaction: all of our Rapid Evidence Reviews, Dance, Drama and Music, as well as the Art & Design Review, document substantial health and wellbeing benefits, spanning both physical and mental health. The Reviews also point to the power of the Arts to build connection and belonging, breaking down barriers and meeting basic needs for happiness and belonging that sit close to the heart of this study.
Social media ban and phones in schools
The government has announced that it will ban social media for under 16s early in 2027. The BBC reported that millions of children in the UK will be forced off social media after the government announced it would ban under-16s from accessing a range of platforms.
Apps including TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram will become inaccessible for children and regulation is likely before the end of the year, with the ban coming into force in spring 2027. Tech companies including Meta, Snapchat and YouTube have warned that a blanket ban would move children into more unsafe online environments.
The government is yet to release the full list of platforms affected, but said that YouTube, Facebook and X would also be included. Over-16s may have to verify their ages to continue using social media platforms.
In the press release, the government’s Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said: “Today we take a bold and significant step, towards creating a safer, healthier life online, for our children and future generations. Tech companies have had countless opportunities to keep children safe, yet they have failed to act. That is why we are a taking power away from the tech giants and putting it back in parents’ hands.”
The government will also learn the lessons from Australia’s experience by introducing more highly effective age assurance (HEAA) measures to support compliance, making it far harder for children to bypass safeguards.
Ofcom will conduct a rapid study on what is effective age assurance for verifying whether someone is over 16. The Secretary of State has also written to the new Chair of Ofcom to ask for an urgent review of Ofcom’s enforcement capabilities with a clear enforcement strategy to be published as soon as possible.
Today’s announcement follows one of the biggest national conversations held by this government, with more than 116,000 responses submitted by parents, children and experts across the country. The responses showed overwhelming public backing for tougher action. 9 in 10 parents said they would support a social media ban for children under 16.
The majority of young people also backed action, with two-thirds agreeing that children younger than 16 should not be allowed to use at least some social media platforms.
Reaction from a number of sectors has varied with a number of questions about how the ban will be implemented, how successful it will be and how the companies involved will react. One subsequent article from the BBC looked at the views of young people on the positive impact of social media on their creativity, quoting 15-year-old Ziame Stewart to give a flavour of the thoughts of a young person who uses their phone to film themselves singing and dancing, citing the number of artists discovered on social media as teens.
Meanwhile the TES ran an article about the government’s decision to make £60m available to schools for lockable pouches for phone storage.
CLA COMMENT
It is interesting that the BBC article immediately sought opinion from a young person who cited his use of his phone as a creative outlet as a reason not to restrict his social media use.
We are reminded of the Fair Education Alliance’s statement about the Milburn interim report, when they say that “young people aren’t the problem” the systems around them are – in this case big tech failing to safeguard children.
National Audit Office reports falling school numbers
The latest report from the National Audit Office (NAO) shows that nationally, between 2018/19 and 2024/25, demand for primary school places fell by 3%, with a further fall of 7% forecast by 2030, (with some local variation). Unfilled school places rose from 10% to 14% in the same period.
The NAO report makes the following points:
- As most school funding is based on pupil numbers, this creates financial risks for some schools and could impact educational quality, particularly for certain groups such as disadvantaged pupils.
- DfE has provided limited support to the sector to date. The NAO urges DfE to deliver on its Estate Strategy, fully considering how it can best support the sector in responding to falling pupil numbers..
Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, summarised the report: “After a long period of increasing demand for school places, we are now seeing an overall fall in primary school pupil numbers with local variation. This will require a targeted response from DfE, local authorities, academy trusts and individual schools, in order to protect educational outcomes and value for money.”
In their analysis the NAO report states: “This decline in pupil numbers could impact schools financially, because most school funding is based on pupil numbers … we estimate that a projected reduction of 56,300 fewer primary school pupils in 2027 could mean that schools receive £288 million less in per-pupil funding. Falling pupil numbers and funding could affect pupils inequitably, with pupils from more disadvantaged backgrounds being disproportionately impacted.”
The report goes on to say that “Falling demand for school places follows many years of the sector needing to create more places for pupils. In response, DfE significantly increased capital funding, including through local authority allocations and the Free Schools Programme. Interventions to meet need over that period may have delivered more school places than were needed.”
Local authorities are responsible for overseeing school places in their local area. However, the report states that DfE only started to track the specific risk of not responding to changing demographics in 2024, and does not yet have a clear approach to supporting the sector in deciding how and when to respond.
To help schools respond to falling pupil numbers, the NAO has recommended that DfE should:
- Build on its Estates Strategy, to help the sector identify the places that may not be needed and how it can be resilient to future changes.
- Consider how the decline in pupil numbers (and corresponding reduction in funding) may impact on pupil outcomes, particularly for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.
- Work across government, alongside encouraging local collaboration, to support the sector to make best use of spare space.
CLA COMMENT
The report makes clear the importance of long-term tracking of population education needs, and the importance of being responsive to these. It also puts a focus on the impact on pupil outcomes, particularly for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. It is good to see this emphasis, and to see these students prioritised in the report’s recommendations. Any circumstances which create new financial risks for schools are likely to impact provision across the board, including for Arts subjects.
University launches scheme offering free learning opportunities to remove barriers to Arts subjects for underrepresented learners
Arts University Bournemouth (AUB), which specialises in art, architecture, film, performance, and design, has launched its Access 500 programme which aims to provide 500 free opportunities to underrepresented learners (those not already in employment, education or training) over the next five years.
The programme is designed to “dismantle barriers” to creative education and support “diverse talent” in the region. As well as working alongside other education providers, the University said it would introduce flexible modes of learning, tailored outreach, and enhanced support networks.
Lisa Mann, Vice Chancellor, said the world needed diverse perspectives. “Every unique voice strengthens our collective future, and the Access 500 programme ensures that background or circumstance will not stand in the way of creative opportunity,” she said.
The initiative is linked to the newly expanded AUB Academy, which focuses on diverse learning provisions. A link to the programme can be found here.
CLA COMMENT
At a time when we are seeing the erosion of a number of Arts and humanities opportunities in Higher Education, it’s good to see an HE provider being strategically proactive about tackling issues around disadvantage and inequity.
CLA scrutinises progression to Higher Education in its annual Report Cards. This year has identified that falls in student numbers for Creative Arts and Design courses are largest among modern universities (former polytechnics) – these are the providers that play an outsized role in educating students from low participation backgrounds.
This initiative is directed specifically at students from low participation backgrounds, and we will be interested to see how it develops. We particularly like AUB’s call for diverse perspectives and the value that it attributes to different voices. This is certainly a university that is valuing the importance of inclusion – which is likely to be a big priority area for CLA in the coming years.
New report finds that nearly 90% of young people say creative opportunities are dwindling
New national research commissioned by the Roundhouse in London reveals a growing crisis among young people, with opportunities to meet, create and collaborate in person in sharp decline. 87% of 18–30-year-olds say they have fewer in-person opportunities to connect, be creative and build confidence beyond school or work than previous generations.
More than half (51%) cited a lack of safe spaces, such as youth clubs, community centres and civic spaces- as one of the biggest barriers to feeling connected to a community, while nearly half (47%) pointed to financial barriers including the cost of activities, transport and participation. 40% say they don’t have enough access to creative opportunities and spaces such as music, performance, Arts and dance, and one in eight say creative opportunities can feel inaccessible depending on class or background.
The findings come against a stark backdrop of youth service decline. Local authorities in England have faced a £1.2 billion real-terms cut (73%) in youth service spending since 2010.
They also come amid mounting concern over the pressures facing young people (as highlighted in our coverage of the interim Milburn report above). The Roundhouse research suggests another part of the challenge may be the disappearance of the spaces where young people build confidence, relationships and transferable skills.
Taken together, the research and Milburn’s findings point to a generation facing shrinking real-world opportunities to connect, create and progress into work, while mental health pressures and economic inactivity continue to rise.
The Roundhouse also surveyed young people involved in its own programmes. Nearly eight in ten (79%) said spending time in creative or community spaces had a more positive impact on their wellbeing and sense of connection than spending time online. 82% said involvement with the Roundhouse had helped them feel more confident in social situations and less lonely, while 92% said they felt part of a community.
Tina Ramdeen, Associate Director for young people at the Roundhouse and a CLA Trustee, comments on these findings and on the ongoing work of the Roundhouse’s Young Creatives Commission, delivered in partnership with the Centre for Young Lives, in her blog here.
CLA COMMENT
The Roundhouse is a performing Arts organisation with an ambitious youth programme for 11-30-year-olds at its heart, providing space and time for them to take part in creative opportunities or use affordable studio space that can ignite a passion, develop skills or help them turn their creativity into a career.
This latest research can be read alongside the Milburn findings to paint a picture of erosion, but the Roundhouse can also tell an important story about the impact that can be made when a cultural organisation prioritises young people and the life-changing impact that can have.
The fact that its outgoing director is now the government’s ambassador for the Arts and culture enrichment area is helpful. It is also a reminder of what our Blueprint for the cultural sector asks of organisations: to treat learning and participation as a strategic priority, resourced and led by expert staff, and to close the value-action gap where the worth of this work is asserted but not always backed by investment. The Roundhouse shows what becomes possible when an organisation builds sustained relationships with young people and acts as a genuine partner in their development.
We look forward to the Young Creatives Commission final report and recommendations later this year.
Cultural sector news
Arts Council England replaces its Let’s Create strategy
The Arts Council England (ACE) has announced its new strategic framework 2026 to replace the previous strategy Let’s Create. ACE and DCMS had pledged to accept or explore all of the recommendations made in Baroness Hodge’s ACE review of the funding, which included replacing Let’s Create with a “new, less prescriptive strategy”. Hodge called for a simple but ambitious strategy to replace it.
They describe it as a practical, interim guide which sets out how ACE will prioritise its work, design our services and make our investment decisions during the period while it consults on a new strategy. The framework sets out a belief that ACE’s investment must do three things: support excellence; deliver for everybody; and reach everywhere. The last two specifically reference children and young people.
Deliver for everybody: Here ACE states that “securing the creative and cultural lives of all our children and young people is critical. We will continue to focus our investment on delivering on our ambition that every child and young person has the chance to develop their creative interests and experience culture as part of everyday life. By working with artists, educators, schools and partners across sectors, we will support a richer, more equitable cultural offer for younger generations and help to nurture the full range of talent that will shape the future of England’s cultural life for years to come.”
They also stress the need to reflect diversity for the individuals and organisations funded and for the public experiencing the work they produce. In a line reminiscent of the government response to the Curriculum Review they state that, “Everybody, regardless of background, should be able to see themselves in the work of those we support.”
ACE states that it’s made progress towards this goal in recent years, but its data makes it clear that there is “further to go and more to do”.
Reach everywhere: Here they state that they “believe our investment should support everybody in every community, village, town and city to connect with excellent art and culture. It should help more people, especially children and young people, to develop and express their own creativity.”
“We have already taken steps to meet this challenge, through our last NPO round, our Creative People & Places programme, and our network of Priority Places. We will work with DCMS to build on these foundations, using data to develop an expanded set of Priority Places, and looking for opportunities across all our services to increase investment in them.”
They will also roll out a new Touring Service and work with “investment partners, including other National Lottery distributors, local government, schools, further and higher education, health and care organisations, trusts and foundations, and businesses to maximise culture’s impact in place. And we will give communities, including children and young people, a stronger voice in shaping their local cultural offer.”
Arts Professional covered the news here. ACE also announced the appointment of a new chair, Dawn Airey CBE for a four-Year term from 1August. In her statement about the appointment, Airey talked about the importance of the Arts Council in championing art and culture never having been more needed: “In a world where Al, technology and automation are increasingly dominant, human connection, experience, imagination and creativity are the things that bring us together. They are the quintessential elements of a creative life and of a life well lived.”
She stated that ACE “has a clear new mandate, informed by the recent Independent Review – to do more to support, nurture and protect the Arts, and to do so transparently, with speed and with a fairer distribution of spend.”
CLA COMMENT
Many will welcome a simpler framework, and it is good to see specific reference to children and young people under two of the three priorities. In a past strategy, it was always good to see children and young people specifically addressed in one of five strategic goals. What do you think about the new approach?
ACE may end up with the same dilemma at the heart of current education reforms – holding am ambition to reach everyone, everywhere on the one hand; with an imperative around reach to diverse underserved communities on the other.
CLA is still wanting to see the following develop as ACE moves into a new phase under its new Chair and with its new interim strategy:
- Strengthened NPO accountability for learning and participation
- Place-based evidence and data for the education work of funded organisations
- Support for the cultural education workforce within its funded organisations
- Through NPO funding, support for sustained partnerships with schools, enabling Arts organisations to be responsive to the needs of children, young people and schools
- Strengthened accreditation schemes as a driver of Arts education
DCMS updates its areas of research interest
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has recently updated its range of research interests. The breadth of DCMS’s portfolio means that high-quality research and evidence are essential to its policymaking.
This refreshed set of Areas of Research Interest (ARIs) highlight the questions where new knowledge, data and analysis can most usefully inform policy development, strengthen the evidence base for decision-making, and ultimately improve outcomes for communities and citizens across the UK.
The ARIs are designed to support engagement between the Department and the wider research and evidence community. Each policy portfolio identifies specific research questions and evidence needs relevant to its policy responsibilities.
Alongside portfolio-specific priorities, the document also highlights cross-cutting themes such as growth, place, participation, prevention, value, trust and resilience that reflect shared challenges across the DCMS sectors. DCMS states that these themes show how research can help illuminate the relationships between growth, participation, place, trust and quality of life across the UK.
There is an emphasis on the importance of place: “Cultural institutions, community organisations, heritage assets, sports facilities, visitor destinations and media ecosystems all form part of the social and cultural infrastructure that supports thriving communities. Understanding how these assets contribute to local identity, belonging, opportunity, participation and wellbeing; how these benefits are distributed across places and communities; and how local partners can help shape and sustain them is a central priority for the department.”
The DCMS groups its research into nine cross cutting themes, three of which have particular relevance to CLA. These are:
- Place, pride and social cohesion
- Participation and engagement
- Prevention and early intervention
More information on the research and how to get involved can be found here, specifically in Appendix A.
CLA COMMENT
CLA’s foundational activity strand is evidence (as we set out in our CLA Strategy Map) so we are always interested in government department approaches to evidence.
It is encouraging to see place, participation, and prevention named as cross-cutting themes, because these are exactly the areas where the evidence for Arts and cultural education is strongest. The societal benefits set out in our Arts Education Capabilities Framework, from social cohesion and civic engagement to belonging and wellbeing, map closely onto the questions DCMS is asking. Our Rapid Evidence Reviews add to this picture, with consistent findings on wellbeing, on collaboration, communication and empathy, and on the agency young people need to take part fully in community and working life.
The prevention and early intervention theme is especially timely. Read alongside the Milburn findings and the Roundhouse research above, it points to the contribution that Arts and culture can make in supporting young people before difficulties take hold. We would welcome the chance to contribute evidence to this work, through our annual Report Cards, the Capabilities Framework, the Rapid Evidence Reviews, and through our Arts Education Evidence Hub plans. Our Rapid Evidence Reviews, co-commissioned with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), have highlighted several significant research gaps which are detailed in Professor Pat Thomson’s summary of the Reviews.
